1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an object editing method, an object editing system for conducting an editing process including associating, connecting, erasing, separating with respect to an object displayed on the display apparatus, and a computer memory product in which a computer program is recorded for operating the system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A system is developed which can display on a display apparatus components of image information as objects, including drawing graphics of handwriting inputs, character strings of keyboard inputting, and so on, and can conduct an editing process such as moving, connecting, separating and erasing operations with respect to these objects on the display apparatus with the use of an input apparatus such as a mouse or the like by the user. This system is effective for progressing the proceedings in, for example, meetings. Each attendants"" opinions and materials can be displayed on the display apparatus so that each participant can read commonly as information objects. The editing processes such as moving, combining, separating, and erasing can be conducted with respect to these objects, while discussing the displayed objects.
In the object editing system, a plurality of objects can be associated with each other. The collection of the objects related to the association can be handled similarly as one object so that the processes such as moving and erasing can be conducted. The conventional procedures of the associating operation (hereinafter referred to as grouping) among the objects are as follows.
The operation mode is set into a grouping mode, the object for grouping is selected, inputted one by one by the user, or the objects overlapped with a rectangular area inputted by the user are detected and selected by the software. Then, the grouping operation of the selected objects can be conducted by receiving the instructions of the selecting completion from the user.
Therefore, to move collectively one group of objects A, B and C, first, the objects A, B and C are grouped in the aforementioned procedure. Then, the operating mode is moved into a moving mode and the moving operation of the group composed of objects A, B and C are effected. But there is a case where objects which should have been collected into groups are not grouped in an actual operation immediately after the moving operation of the group of the objects. The group is necessary to be corrected after the moving operation. Although the moving operation of the group of, for example, the above described objects A, B and C meant to be effected, the objects C is not effected into the grouping actually, and the moving process is not effected with respect to the object C. In this case, the user should subsequently conduct the moving operation of the object C which should have effected and the object C is newly grouped. Or the processing results are restored into the condition before the moving operation of the group of the objects. The object C is grouped and the moving operation is newly conducted to obtain the desired processing results.
However, to effect the moving operation of the objects which should have grouped after the moving operation, the correct positioning operation is required for making the moving vector the same as that of the other objects already grouped, making the operation complicated to effect. Also, to effect the grouping operation after the undoing operation and effect the moving operation again, a moving vector similar to the moving operation before the undoing operation must be specified, thus making the operation complicated. Therefore, the grouping operation of the objects are desired to be simplified. Likewise, an operation of canceling the grouping operation of the objects and an operation of renewing the relative positional relation among the objects belonging to the groups are desired to be made simpler.
Also, in the object editing system, in the conventional combining process of the objects, a much more complicated procedure is generally required. For example in the Microsoft Word, the general literature editing application, there is a function of a text box for handing character strings as the objects. The following procedures (1) through (5) are conducted in the combination of the objects.
(1) A user selects a first object to be combined.
(2) A user selects a xe2x80x9cCopyxe2x80x9d from among the function menu.
(3) A user specifies a position for connecting the first object in a second object to be connected.
(4) A user selects the xe2x80x9cPastexe2x80x9d from the function menu.
(5) The system connects the first object with the second object and conducts a displaying operation.
Considering the user""s operationality, it is desired to effect a connecting operation of the objects by the direct operation of the displayed objects without effecting the aforementioned menu operations. The present applicant proposes a new connecting operation of the objects. The connecting operation in this case includes the procedures of (1) and (2) as shown in FIG. 1.
(1) A user drags and drops (FIGS. 1A and 1B) with a mouse an object M to be moved for connection onto an object N to receive the connection.
(2) The system connects the object M after the object N and displays them (FIG. 1C).
In the connecting operation, it is only required to directly superpose an object on an object to be connected, in accordance with an operation suitable for the human sense. But the order in connecting the objects is fixed and the usefulness is insufficient.
The conventional example where the displayed object is separated is not known in the object editing system.
In the object editing system, the erasing operation of the displayed objects is conventionally effected with procedures of the following (1) through (3) in, for example, the aforementioned Microsoft Word.
(1) The user selects an object to be erased.
(2) The user selects the xe2x80x9cclearxe2x80x9d from among the function menu.
(3) The system erases the object.
Since even in the example of erasing operation, the menu operation is effected as in the above described connection operation, the operability for the user is not good. In the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-44006 discloses an example where the direct operation is conducted more effective than in the Microsoft Word. In the operating example, the user selects the area of the xe2x80x9cerasingxe2x80x9d function displayed on the screen with a pointing device to cause the pointing device to have an erasing function. When the pointing device sweeps the screen, an object involved in the sweeping operation is erased.
In the example, when an object is involved in the sweeping operation of the pointing device where the erasing function is assigned to the object disappears at a time. This is convenient for erasing an object. However, imagine that there are a user A effecting an erasing operation, and another user B looking at the erasing operation, and the user A is erasing the object as in the general blackboard erasing operation. To the user B, an object to be erased disappears at a time in the erasing manner shown by the system. The recognition of the user B cannot catch up with the erasing operation of the objects, thus giving the user B an unsatisfactory feeling.
In the general drawing process, a picture can be drawn while correcting it slightly. In this case, the user is used to the motion of erasing operation by scrubbing a desired area of the picture. However, in the object system, the erasing operation can be effected only in the unit of object, and the erasing operation often goes beyond the expected range. Further, objects once erased cannot be restored to the original objects. The redrawing operation is necessary to be effected again. The object system becomes worse in efficiency than the drawing process using paper and pencils.
An object of the invention is to provide an object editing method which simplifies the operations such as grouping the objects; erasing the grouping of the objects, and renewing the positions of the objects belonging to the groups, and an object editing system of carrying out the method.
Another object of the invention is to provide an object editing method capable of, with human natural consciousness, conducting the editing processes such as object connecting, object separating, object erasing, and so on, and an object editing system for carrying out the method.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an object editing method wherein the system can judge user""s intention based on the user""s direct operation with respect to the displayed object, and decide the connecting order of the objects, and an object editing system for carrying out the method.
A further object of the invention is to provide an object editing method wherein the user can change the connecting order into the correct order through a simple, and direct operation even when the objects are likely to be connected in a wrong order, and an object editing system for carrying out the object editing method.
A still further object of the invention is to provide an object editing method wherein the objects can easily be separated by a direct operation by the user of directly cutting off the displayed objects, and an object editing system for carrying out the object editing method.
Another object of the invention is to provide an object editing method wherein an object can be erased in a manner more similar to the actual erasing state using an blackboard eraser, and an object editing system for carrying out the object editing method.
An additional object of this invention is to provide an object editing method capable of suggesting the user the operating method of the various editing processes, and also, simplifying the setting of the operating method in the various editing processes, and an object editing system for carrying out the method.
An even further object of the invention is to provide an object editing method capable of easily and quickly restoring the object which is once erased from the screen, and an object editing system for carrying out the object editing method.
Another object of the invention is to provide an object editing method capable of displaying again immediately without re-making the objects once erased from the screen, and an object editing system for carrying out the object editing method.
Another object of the invention is to provide an objecting editing method capable of reducing the memory capacity required for storing the contents of the erased object, and an object editing system for carrying out the object editing method.
Another object of the invention is to provide a computer memory product wherein the computer program capable of realizing the aforementioned object editing method is recorded.
The above and further objects and features of the invention will more fully be apparent from the following detailed description with accompanying drawings.